


Oh, How the Mighty Fall in Love

by sidium



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Fluff without Plot, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-09
Updated: 2015-02-09
Packaged: 2018-03-11 01:21:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3310520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sidium/pseuds/sidium
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They’ve all got someone and Steve couldn’t be more grateful. Seeing what they see, doing what they do; it’s a relief to have someone to come home to who understands. Or go home with, as the case may be. Sure, they’re all friends, hell, at this point, more like family; they’d happily support one another at any given point for any reason. But Steve’s still grateful.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Oh, How the Mighty Fall in Love

**Author's Note:**

> Presented without comment.

They’ve all got someone and Steve couldn’t be more grateful. Seeing what they see, doing what they do; it’s a relief to have someone to come home to who understands. Or go home with, as the case may be. Sure, they’re all friends, hell, at this point, more like family; they’d happily support one another at any given point for any reason. But Steve’s still grateful.

Tony and Pepper have been together as long as anyone has known. In some ways, even when they weren’t  _together_ , they were still together. It's taken for granted that if you find Tony after a mission, he’ll have his face tucked in the crook of Pepper’s neck as she pets him like a cat. Tony is probably the most tactile person on the team, and Pepper has always been indulgent to that; stroking his hair or tracing the scars and lines of his palms during movie nights. It's rare to hear them speak to one another when they're in that position after missions, too absorbed in their happy, little word of touch, relieved to be together again. He knows that the first few months they were together, Pepper would be furious with worry after Tony went out on missions, even with teammates; yelling at Tony and being frustrated with him. He’d apologize, sweet-talk her and calm her down, and eventually, she adapted. She learned to deal with the stress, just like the rest of them typically did.

Thor had Jane pretty much right off the bat, too. Like Pepper, she never went on missions, but she had been employed by SHIELD as a science consultant, so she had access to the Avenger’s classified information.  _(Pepper knows everything because Tony either has JARVIS hack files for her, or he just outright tells her everything, fuck everyone else. To be fair, it’s not like anyone really considers Pepper a threat to the Avengers.)_  Which was why Jane's able to plunk herself down in Thor’s lap after every mission, and they both start talking animatedly about the latest threat. Wild hand gestures; loud, excited voices and wide smiles. They always continue to ramble until Thor has to attend the mission de-briefing, promising to continue their conversation later. They are the most vocal and definitely the loudest couple around, but no one ever has the heart to tell them to shut up. 

There had been politics within SHIELD, when Thor started dating Jane and Tony made it clear he was with Pepper; about Avengers and their personal relationships. Who they became involved with and what effect those relationships would have on the team, whether SHIELD should step in and make rules. Steve and Tony had sat down with a few of the top lawyers in the world, after clearing them with SHIELD, and had written up a contract to be signed by Fury himself. The contract was relatively simple and stated that, at no point, in  _any_  circumstance, could SHIELD punish or otherwise base treatment of an Avenger off of their significant other. If they did, the Avengers Initiative would be dissolved and released from SHIELD, after a personal apology to the mistreated individual and their significant other from Fury. Steve and Tony hadn’t been stupid, they knew what they were doing. Despite their lack of evidence, they both had a sneaking suspicion on what would soon come to light. It hadn’t been formally announced, but they triple-checked to make sure SHIELD couldn’t do anything,  _no matter what_.

It hadn’t been long after Fury had signed it, and they got the point across to everyone that they could be involved with  _anyone_  and SHIELD couldn’t punish them in _any_  way; that they got pretty much exactly what they were anticipating. After a particularly stressful mission, Natasha had pulled Clint down in the back of the Quinjet. Sitting him down to straddle his lap and engage in the most blatant and bold make-out session anyone had ever dared to have on the Quinjet. It became their ritual pretty quickly and everyone was nice enough to pretend not to notice them. After every mission, at some point, Natasha will inevitably yank Clint around wherever she wants him and he always happily goes along, as though silently daring someone to tell Natasha to knock it off.  

Steve likes that about the future. Back when he was younger, women never took charge of their men, always being the submissive ones to their boyfriends. Natasha, and to a (slightly) lesser degree, Pepper are obviously the dominant ones in their relationships, Clint and Tony happily following their lead. Steve likes that relationships could work like that now. Women could take charge, men would go with it, and everyone can figure out what works for them.

Steve isn’t into PDA, thanks. He wasn’t lying when he told Natasha it makes him uncomfortable. It just seems weird to him to publicly display something that seems so personal, even to teammates. He’s fine with her kissing Clint, it doesn’t bother him, but it’s not something he would ever really enjoy doing himself. Which is good, because Bucky doesn’t seem to be too fond of it, either. Their ritual, started after Bucky officially finished therapy and Steve officially finished denial, was much simpler. Sitting next to one another, seemingly not even paying attention to one another; except when you noticed their hands, intertwined and holding on tight between them. It might not be as blatant as Natasha and Clint, but for Steve, it’s security and love and he wouldn’t let go for the world.

Sam's the one person unlucky enough to have to lie, or at least, not be able to be completely honest. His girlfriend, Ava, a veterinarian who lives in D.C.; wasn’t cleared with SHIELD security. Despite the fact they’d been dating for over a year, she couldn’t be there for him immediately after missions, and he couldn’t tell her details, just basic facts. They’d asked once how she was okay with that, and she explained she dated a couple military guys before Sam and she understands. Regardless, everyone else still sympathizes with him for not being able to be open and they try to make up for it by making sure he always has access to a phone or webcam to talk to her after missions. Even if he can’t say everything he wants to. Watching Sam’s face light up whenever he talks to Ava, even just on the phone, makes Steve believe this is one more way people make things work for them in their relationships.

Bruce took the longest, by far, even with Steve and Bucky going glacially slow. He spend longer alone than everyone else, obvious in his fear of becoming involved with someone, only to inevitably hurt them. Months went by that he would pass out in the back of the quinjet, wrapped in blankets, quietly insisting he was fine to everyone who asked. He radiated loneliness sometimes, but everyone knew better than to pry. They all knew exactly what he’d say and knew he’d never listen to an argument. Steve has to admit, he’s pretty sure no one saw it coming when Bruce started making sure he stayed awake long enough to pass out with his head in Darcy’s lap. He’d never heard any rumors about them, or even seen them flirt. One day Bruce was alone, the next he had a beautiful SHIELD intern running her fingers through his curls and whispering to him, making him laugh, despite his exhaustion. No one ever asked, they just accepted it. (Tony has looked like he's wanted to, several times. Steve has seen him almost physically restrain himself from asking, but thankfully, even he sometimes recognizes fragile and priceless things when he sees them.)

So there’s a lot Steve has to be grateful for. He has his friends, he has Bucky, he has safety and security. He knows that’s more than some people can say and he thanks whatever’s responsible for giving him that every day. But the fact that he and every single person he cares about has someone to take care of them and love them; someone they can spoil and love back just as much? The fact that every single person he considers his family has a constant source of love and support?   
  
That’s the thing he’s most grateful for.

 


End file.
